


Hair Care

by Argothia



Series: EdLing Oneshots [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Hair Brushing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22516057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argothia/pseuds/Argothia
Summary: Ling's hair is kind of a mess.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Ling Yao
Series: EdLing Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1639198
Comments: 7
Kudos: 170





	Hair Care

**Author's Note:**

> the-stray-liger asked: Haircare routine for the EdLing prompt?

“Shit,” Greed grumbles, catching Ling’s attention.

_What?_

“Your stupid hair’s coming down.”

_Oh, so when it’s being inconvenient for you it’s my hair is it?_

Greed rolls his eyes. “Whatever… switch with me.”

_…Why?_

“It’s your hair right?” Greed reaches up and unties the ribbon. “You deal with it.”

 _You’re the one who let it get a mess in the first place so that’s not really–_ “–fa- Whoa!”

Ling loses his balance and immediately falls out of the tree Greed had perched them in.

“You okay over there, Greeling?” Ed calls from across the clearing.

Picking himself up off the ground Ling waves him off and sighs, “I’m fine!”

_Serves you right._

“Ass,” Ling snaps back. Then pulls his hair over his shoulder and grimaces. “Would it kill you to brush it once in a while? You’re using this body too.”

He gets no response, so he just grumbles in Xingese as he sits down and starts trying to pick out all the tangles with his fingers. This could take a while.

“Hey, Ling?” Ed steps around the nearby tree. “Everything alright?”

Ling gives him his best smile. “Yeah, Greed’s just being a lazy bastard.”

_Oi._

“My hair came down and he didn’t want to deal with it but he also didn’t want to leave it down,” Ling shrugs. “So it falls to me.”

“Oh.” Ed raises an eyebrow. “You know how to tie it back up?”

“Ah…” Ling grimaces and looks away. “K-kind of… Lan Fan used to do it for me.”

Ed sighs. “Can’t be helped, I guess. That’s what you get being a prince and all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ling looks up just as Ed claps his hands together and grabs a stick off the ground. The stick is now a comb. Oh. Alchemy sure is useful. Ling starts to hold out his hand for the comb, but Ed doesn’t offer it.

Instead, Ed just sits down behind him. “Here, let me see.”

“Uuuh…” Ling’s mind immediately goes blank, the traitor.

“I’ll be careful,” Ed assures him, but that isn’t really the problem. “I mean, besides doing my own hair Winry made me brush hers a lot too, I’m pretty good at it.”

“I’m sure you are.” Ling sighs and lets Ed pull his hair over his shoulder. He tries to relax his shoulders and not think about who it is that’s now gently picking the mats out of his hair. Aside from the occasional twinge of pain from the comb getting caught in a particularly nasty tangle, it’s actually pretty calming.

Ling’s almost nodding off when Ed speaks up again. “Shit, man, does Greed take care of your hair at all? I mean, he has to have washed it since there’s no blood in it, but damn.”

Shaking himself back awake, Ling hums. “Mm, he took one shower, right after, but he doesn’t generally think about hygiene unless it starts annoying him.”

_Fuck you! I’ve taken plenty of showers. Stinking is not fun._

“But mats in my hair is?” Ling grumbles without thinking.

Ed huffs sounding amused. “He being an ass?”

“I’ve despaired of getting him to behave,” Ling confirms.

_Watch it, kid._

“Or what, Greed? You going to take my body back now and deal with my hair yourself?” Ling asks.

_…No, but I will spill your big secret to the alchemist brat._

Ling tenses up.

“What?” Ed asks. “What’d he say?”

Thinking quickly Ling answers, “He very generously agreed to a truce.”

_For now. You gotta tell him someday._

Ling takes a deep breath and just lets himself enjoy the feeling of having his hair brushed. “…Thanks… for this.”

“Hey, not a problem,” Ed says, casually. “I’d want somebody to do the same for me, ya know? And it benefits us all when you don’t look like a forest hermit.”

Ling grins, equal parts fond and annoyed. “You really have no tact, huh?”

“And I’m proud of it,” Ed answers. There’s another lapse in the conversation. Then, “Wow, your hair’s really soft when it’s clean, huh?”

God, he really just _says_ these things. Ling covers his face with one hand. “So I’ve been told.”

_You really got it bad, don’t ya?_

He could do without the smart comments, thanks.

_Just saying._

“If you want I can recommend some good Xingese hair care products,” Ling suggests to Ed, trying anything to ignore Greed. “I mean–”

“You saying my hair doesn’t look great already?” Ed sounds a bit more annoyed now.

That’s almost a relief. “No, you ass, I’m just offering–”

“I’ll have you know my hair is perfectly fine just the way it is!”

“I’ve literally never had the opportunity to know if that’s true or not!”

Ed pauses. “Fine! After I’m done here you brush my hair! You hear that, Greed? You stay out of this.”

_Oh god, what is this a sleepover? Trust me, I don’t want any part of whatever you two idiots got going on._

“Is that a yes?” Ling asks him.

_Do whatever you want._

“He agreed to it.”

Ed nods. “Good. Now hold still. I’m almost done.”

_You’re both hopeless._

**Author's Note:**

> Still accepting (PG13 at most) EdLing prompts on my [Tumblr](https://argothiathedreamer.tumblr.com/)


End file.
